23 Game-Changing Baking Hacks

Baking can be an infuriating science, but the advantages far outweigh the headache. Fresh-baked cookies whenever you damn well please? Homemade pancakes to feed your hot date the day after? Girly, indulgent cupcakes in the privacy of your own home? All reasons you should learn to bake.

Especially when just starting out, there are many ingredients and pieces of equipment you won’t have, but, with these life-changing baking hacks, you won’t need them. Give some of these a go next time you try your hand at baking. You’ll look like a pro – or at least fake one real well.

Trying to keep parchment paper from rolling in on itself is an exercise in futility. Stay sane and use magnets to keep it planted to the baking sheet.

Bring eggs to room temperature quickly

Place cold eggs in a bowl filled with warm water. Let sit until the eggs come to room temperature.

Make cake flour from ingredients you already have

1 cup all-purpose flour + 2 tablespoons cornstarch = cake flour.

Whip cream in a jar

This also gives you amazing arms. Chill a Mason jar in the fridge. Fill it halfway with heavy cream, add a teaspoon of powdered sugar, seal the lid, and shake vigorously for 2 minutes or until it’s thick and fluffy.

Many baking recipes call for butter at room temperature, but that can take at least 30 minutes. Save some time with this cheat. Cut butter into chunks. Fill a glass bowl with hot water. Pour out the water and invert the hot bowl to cover the butter. Let sit for 2 minutes, uncover, and use.

Soften crispy cookies

Whether they turned out crispier than you like, or they’re one day too stale, place a slice of sandwich bread in the cookie jar. The following day, cookies will be soft, chewy, and moist.

Credit: Laura Murray/Thrillist

Roll pastry dough without a rolling pin

Use a chilled wine bottle. The cold will also prevent your dough from softening too quickly.

DIY corn syrup

Melt 1 cup of sugar with ¼ cup water over medium heat until sugar melts, about 3 minutes. It’ll thicken up as it cools.

Mayo makes an effortlessly moist cake

For a moister crumb, add 1 cup of mayonnaise to the batter.

Use a muffin tin for even cookies

For soft and evenly round cookies, bake them in a muffin pan so they don’t spread out.

Credit: Laura Murray/Thrillist

Keep brown sugar soft

Toss a strip of rind from an orange or lemon in with the brown sugar and seal it in a Ziploc bag or container. It’ll stay nice and soft. A slice of bread or marshmallows will also work.

Soften brown sugar when it’s already hard

Microwave it in a baking dish covered with a wet paper towel for 20 to 30 seconds. Use a fork to break it apart. It’ll feel like packable sand once again.

Slick measuring cups before scooping sticky ingredients

Honey, syrup, molasses… whatever sticky substance you measure will slide right out when you spray the measuring cup with cooking spray first.

Prevent blueberries from sinking for even distribution

A dash of flour will help blueberries – or whatever you’re throwing in your batter – defy gravity. The flour makes them stick to the batter and stay suspended instead of sinking to the bottom. Toss berries with a tablespoon of flour before folding them in, but use flour from the recipe – don’t add extra.

Credit: Laura Murray/Thrillist

Separate eggs with a plastic bottle

Break eggs into a bowl. Use an empty bottle to suction the yolks out.

Use a Ziploc bag for detailed icing

Fill a Ziploc bag with frosting and cut the tip off one corner. Squeeze the frosting through the hole and pipe it right onto your treat.

Frost cupcakes quickly with an ice cream scoop

For that “Magnolia look,” use an ice cream scoop to portion out the frosting onto the cupcake. Then turn the scoop over and use the rounded end to spread it out to the edges, leaving a cute crater in the center.